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Dr. Derek Cummings’ research in Southeast Asia found that temperature spikes during El Niño led to a higher incidence of dengue infection

Despite intransigence in Washington over Zika funding, the National Institutes of Health have awarded more than 1.75 million dollars to the University of Florida to study the Zika virus.

Melioidosis is a less-well known bacterial disease discovered just over 100 years ago in Burma (now Myanmar) in Southeast Asia. It is mostly a disease of the tropical and subtropical regions of the world and is associated with high mortality. Melioidosis is caused by the bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei that patients, particularly rice farmers, usually acquire from environmental sources such as contaminated soil and water. The disease affects mostly patients with underlying conditions, which include diabetes, malignancies such as cancer, and alcoholism. B. pseudomallei is scarcely transmitted from human-to-human and although it can infect many animals and insects, animal-to-human or insect-to-human transmissions have not been documented.

The first approved dengue vaccine may increase the incidence of more severe disease if used in populations with low dengue transmission.

A child in Haiti was identified with a serious mosquito-borne illness that had never been reported in the Caribbean nation, according to researchers at the University of Florida’s Emerging Pathogens Institute (EPI).

Common Aedes Aegypti mosquito, magnified 2,000 times at the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, 6/28, prepares to feed on human skin. After 15 years of test on more than 3,900 compounds, Jerry Bulter, professor of entomology, has developed a safe, natural insect repellent that protects people against everything from mosquitoes to ticks and tiny “no-see-ums.” Its the first effective alternative to products containing DEET, the most widely used ingredient in insect repellent now on the market. Butler’s new herbal repellent is patented by the UF and licensed to a commercial firm.

School-located influenza vaccination programs led by local health departments could be cost-effective throughout the state of Florida, according to a study published recently in the journal Vaccine.

Virus-specific CPE in simian kidney cell line LLC-MK2. Non-inoculated cells (A) and cells inoculated with plasma specimen 1225/2014, 8 days post-inoculation (B). Perinuclear vacuoles are evident.

A Mini Cooper will soon be traveling Florida streets and highways as part of the University of Florida HealthStreet community engagement program, collecting bugs and bug “splats” on the bumper for a study of mosquito-borne viruses.

Nearly 400 non travel-related Zika infections will occur in Florida before the end of the summer, according to a new study by biostatisticians at the University of Florida and other institutions.